Clandestine Cake Club - Gloucester - Pepper's Cafe

When you think of cake, what springs to mind? Gorgeous, fluffy light sponges, sandwiched together with various jams and creams, topped with yet more creams, fruits & chocolates?

Well until today that was pretty much how I felt about cakes also.  That was until today's Clandestine Cake Club Event at Peppers Cafe.  The theme Mix & Match!

Think cakes and vegetables! You wouldn't think the two would go together apart from the classic carrot cake, but let me assure you they do, they REALLY do!

Although only attended by 5 members this time, this certainly didn't affect the quality of the cakes, which all looked and smelled delicious.  Most importantly, they all tasted amazing!

Looking at these delicious cakes, you would be forgiven for thinking they are your run of the mill cakes of sponges and loaves.  Oh no they are much much more than that.

First up we have our host Julia's Cake.  A delectable Lemon & Courgette Loaf.

A beautiful firm loaf cake with the added bonus of chunks of creamy walnut.  There was no hint of courgette whatsoever and the crunchiness of the nuts and creaminess of them was perfectly offset by a tangy after taste of lemon.  Not too sharp, just perfectly in proportion with each other.  This is a must try cake with a nice cup of coffee or tea, whatever your drink of choice may be.

Next up we have my mum's Carrot Cake (Debbie Webb).

What can I say about this one then.  I have to say, out of all the carrot cakes I have ever tried in my life, this is up there with the best of them.  It was gorgeous.  The creaminess of the mascapone topping and the crunch of the walnuts, perfect complimented the denseness of the carrot cake.  A really nice cake well made.

Next we have Caroline's Balsamic Strawberry with Basil Cream Cake.

There is really only one word to describe this cake.  Amazing!  The Basil Cream was simply wonderful, not too overpowering, and only leaving the faintest hint in your mouth.  Coupled with the balsamic strawberries, they didn't fight against each other on your tongue, it was almost like they were meant to be.  I literally had a party in my mouth when I tried this cake and cannot express enough how nice it really was.

Next up we have another Lemon & Courgette Cake this time by Jayne.

Beautiful!  So light and fluffy, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a run of the mill sponge.  The gorgeous frosting was melt in the mouth and there was a lemony goodness that seeped out of the cake which made it perfect.  Definitely one of my favourite cakes of the day.  The frosting put me in mind of another cake which a member made, a Golden Layer Cake with Buttercup Frosting.

And finally we come to my cake.  It has the title Heartache Chocolate Cake and is made using aubergines.

Overall a nice cake, but far too chocolatey for the likes of myself.  It rather put me in mind of a brownie cake if you will, it was lovely and cracked and crisp on the top and sides, and the centre of it was a little stodgy.  I was supposed to cook it for 30 minutes at 180, but felt that it still needed more time, so I ended up cooking it for a total of 50 minutes.  There was no taste of aubergine at all, and I think this would be lovely accompanied by some nice cream or ice cream.

A lovely time was had by all and I think I am now slowly crashing from my sugar rush from sampling the delicious cakes.  

Enjoy x

Baklava & Honey & Mustard Chicken Breasts

I learned my lesson the hard way today.  I made Baklava with pistachios.  300g to be precise.  Did I do what any normal person would do and buy them pre-shelled? No I bought them shelled and spent the best part of half an hour shelling them, ultimately ending up with two sore thumbs.  But boy was it worth it, the sugary sweet goodness of the Baklava had my arteries hardening with just a look.

I only had one slice as I don't think my teeth could have taken much more.  The crispiness of the filo pastry and the crunchiness of the pistachios, mixed with the spices were a perfect compliment to each other.  The the sauce, oh the sauce, a veritable gooey sweet lovers dream.  Chewy and soft, and oh so sticky.

The recipe came from the Baked & Delicious Magazines, Issue 5, Page 16.

Baklava

Serves: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Cooling Time: 2 hours

Oven Temp: 180C/350F/Gas 4

Ingredients

300g (11oz) shelled walnuts, pistachios, almonds or other nuts of your choice

1 rounded tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

1 rounded tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of powdered cardamom, optional

1 x 450g (1lb) pack filo pastry

125 - 150g (4 - 5oz) unsalted butter, melted

cloves to decorate, optional

For The Syrup

250ml (9fl oz) water

250g (9oz) sugar

125ml (4fl oz) runny honey

1 stick cinnamon

zest of one orange

1 - 2 tsp orange flower water, optional

Equipment

24 x 20.5cm (9.5 x 8in) ovenproof dish

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.  Chop the nuts or crush them briefly in a processor - you want them to retain a good crunchy texture.  Mix in the spices.  Butter the baking dish.

Open the filo and keep the sheets under a tea towel to prevent them drying out.  Lay the first sheet into the dish, butter it, then cover it with another layer.  Continue for five or six layers.  Now lay half the nuts on top.  Add another five or six layers, buttering as before.  Lay the remaining nuts on top, then finish with more layers of buttered pastry.  Trim around the dish, then cut deeply through all the layers to form a diamond pattern.  Secure each diamond with a clove if you like them.  Bake for about 40 minutes, turning the oven down to 170C/325F/Gas 3 if it's getting too brown on top.

Meanwhile put the syrup ingredients into a pan and melt to combine, then simmer the mixture for 15 minutes until it thickens, becomes sticky and is reduced in volume by one third.  Set aside to cool.  When the baklava comes out of the oven, pour over half the syrup; after 5 minutes pour over the remainder.  Leave to cool and settle for at least 2 hours before serving.

Honey & Lemon Chicken Breasts

I couldn't think of anything more I'd rather eat on a horrible, stuffy, muggy day like today other than a nice juicy chicken breast, that takes mere minutes to cook.  A light and zingy marinade of honey, lemon and mustard keeps the chicken beautifully moist throughout cooking.  This was enjoyed by the whole family, apart from my 3 year old Mackenzie, who didn't want to eat the brown dots lol.  It was no mean feat, to scrape off all the mustard seeds from his piece of chicken which had already been cut up.  Serve up with chunky chips and mixed vegetables.

The recipe came from Best Food Fast! Book, Issue 1, Tasty Chicken, Page 43

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, skinless

1 lemon

2 tbsps clear honey

1 tbsp grain mustard

1 tbsp olive oil

salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a roasting tin with a large piece of overhanging foil.  Place the chicken breasts in the tin.  Cut 4 thin slices from the lemon and place one on top of each chicken breast.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon and mix with the honey, mustard, oil and seasoning, then drizzle over the chicken.  Seal the foil.

Bake for 15 minutes, fold back the foil and baste.  Cook uncovered for 10 minutes more.

Enjoy x

Raspberry Meringue Roulade

It was treat day today in the Willetts household.  Something simple for dinner (scampi, chips & peas) with a yummy home made dessert for afters.  Today's treat was a yummy Raspberry Meringue Roulade.  I was a bit nervous with this one as I'd never had a meringue that turned out just the way it should do.  I needn't have worried though, I followed the instructions to a tee and it turned out perfectly, even if my Swiss roll tin was a smidgen on the small side.

This recipe comes to you from the Baked & Delicious Magazine, Issue 5, Page 12

Raspberry Meringue Roulade

Ingredients

5 egg whites

150g (5oz) caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp white wine vinegar

icing sugar or caster sugar for dusting

mint sprigs, optional

For The Filling

1 x 284ml carton double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted

250g (9oz) raspberries plus extra for serving

For The Raspberry Coulis

225g (8oz) fresh raspberries, puréed and sieved

50g (2oz) icing sugar

lemon juice

Equipment

33 x 28cm (13 x 11in) Swiss roll tin, baking parchment or tinfoil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.  Line a non-stick Swiss roll tin with lightly oiled baking parchment or tinfoil, leaving a 5cm (2in) overhang all round.

2. Whisk the egg whites in a large clean bowl until they are stiff.  Gradually whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is still and glossy.

3. Gently fold in the cornflour, vanilla extract and vinegar with a spatula or a metal spoon.  Then scrape the meringue onto the prepared Swiss roll tin, spreading it up to the edges and levelling it as much as possible.

4. Cook for 1 hour, then allow it to cool in the tin.  Sprinkle a sheet of greaseproof paper or tinfoil with icing sugar or caster sugar and turn out the meringue onto it.  Peel off the backing paper or tinfoil.

5. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and then fold in the vanilla and the sifted icing sugar.  Spread it over the meringue, leaving a border of about 2.5cm (1in) around the edge.

6. Scatter the raspberries evenly over the cream and use the sugared paper to help you roll up the meringue.

7. Whizz the raspberries in a blender or blitz them briefly with a hand blender, push through a sieve and then stir in the sifted icing sugar and a little lemon juice.

8. To serve, spoon some coulis onto each plate and then place a slice or two of roulade on top.  Decorate with extra raspberries and sprigs of mint if you like.

Enjoy x

Sausage With Chilli And Purple Sprouting Broccoli

I tried something today that was absolutely mind blowing.  A recipe where there are just two main ingredients, the rest spices but the taste sensation when they are all put together is simply mouthwatering.  I was dubious I have to admit, but I am so glad that my OCD doesn't let me skip recipes and I have to work my way through the entire book, because in all honesty, I probably would have just skipped past this at first glance.

I served it up with some deliciously smooth mash and a nice chunk of Irish Soda Bread which I had baked earlier in the day.

The recipe comes from Cooking For Real Life by Joanna Weinberg.

Sausage With Chilli And Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

scant teaspoon dried chilli flakes

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, bashed

650g good-quality pork sausagemeat (or sausages, squeezed out of their skins)

600g purple sprouting broccoli, chopped a little

juice of 1 lemon

flaky salt

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the chilli, garlic and fennel seeds until the garlic is golden and all is fragrant.

Crumble in the sausagemeat, turning it well in the mixture, and breaking it up to form mince.  Then leave it to cook so that the bottom becomes golden and well coloured.  Turn the meat and break it up again and cook on the other side until well coloured.

Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli for 1 minute in boiling, salted water, then drain.  When, and only when, the meat is well coloured, add the broccoli, turning it well to coat in the oil.  Add the lemon juice, partly cover and leave to cook for 5 minutes, stirring and turning from time to time.  The broccoli will still be fairly crunchy but this adds to its appeal.

Stir again to check everything is evenly cooked, scrunch over salt, then divide between plates and eat immediately, with a dollop of yogurt or creme fraiche and plenty of good bread.

Enjoy x

Pork Chops In Mustard Sauce

What better way to end a dreary Monday with a big fat pork chop, so that's exactly what I did.  Tonight's dinner was Pork Chops In Mustard Sauce.  I had chops so big they would have given my 6ft 3in 20 stone dad a run for his money.  I have to say, I wasn't impressed with the sauce though.  For some reason, mine didn't thicken to quite the consistency that I thought it would.  I must have done something wrong, although I did follow the recipe to a tee.  Perhaps because my chops were so big, they let a little more water than expected into the stock whilst they were simmering.  Don't get me wrong, the sauce was lovely, although I wish it had been a bit thicker.

The recipe comes from the Grandmas Kitchen selection of recipe cards from the Hearty Meat Dishes set.

Pork Chops In Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

4 pork loin chops, about 175g/6oz each (when I bought my chops they didn't have any loin so I had to go with regular on the bone chops which probably made them around 8oz each)

Salt and black pepper

1/2 garlic clove

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

300ml/1/2pt chicken stock

2 red apples

1 tbsp vegetable oil

15g/1/2oz butter

Method

1. Trim the fat from the chops.  Season with salt and pepper.  Put in a shallow dish.  Peel and crush garlic.  Put the garlic, orange rind, juice and mustard in a screw-top jar.  Close and shake well.  Pour mixture over chops.  Cover and chill for 2 hours, or overnight.

2. Heat the stock in a frying pan until bubbling.  Remove chops from the marinade and add to stock.  Reserve marinade.  Cover pan.  Simmer very gently for 20 minutes, or until chops are no longer pink in the centre.

3. Remove the chops and keep covered.  Put the cooking liquid and reserved marinade in a small saucepan. Boil for about 5 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

4. Meanwhile, core the apples and cut into wedges.  Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan.  Add the chops and apples.  Fry over a high heat for 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pork is golden and the apples are tender.

5. Serve the chops immediately with the sauce and the apples.

For a variation, you can replace the Dijon mustard with wholegrain mustard for a grainy texture and stronger flavour.

Enjoy x

Salami & Pepper Crumpet Pizzas

And so to the third and final dish of the day.  I have to say that I can't take all the credit for this.  I was ably assisted by my 3 year old Mackenzie.  He did an amazing job of laying the salami and cheese on top of the crumpets and thoroughly enjoyed himself too.

These were really nice, and very filling.  I think if I make them again, I shall add some mozzarella as well as the cheddar : )

This recipe can be found in the Best Food Fast! Book, Easy Italian, Issue 25, Page 40.

SALAMI & PEPPER CRUMPET PIZZAS

Ingredients

8 crumpets (I used 14 as I have a big family)

8 teaspoons red pesto sauce

8 slices salami

1/2 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

60g (2 1/2oz) cheddar, grated

fresh basil leaves, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the grill to high.  Toast the crumpets, then spread each one with 1 teaspoon pesto and top with a slice of salami.

2. Toss the pepper and tomatoes with the oil and pile onto the crumpets.  Scatter with Cheddar and grill for 4-5 minutes until melted and golden.  Serve garnished with basil leaves.

Enjoy x

Chicken Noodle Soup

My second dish of the day.  Also cooked for lunch.  My younger children, preferred this to the roasted veg, although it didn't stop my husband having some too.  Nice and light the husband was able to have a largeish bowl of this before tucking into the roasted veg.  Very easy to make.  I love one pot dishes.

This recipe can be found in the July Issue of Slimming World Magazine on Page 71.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, cut into small cubes

1 courgette, cut into small cubes

2 carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes

1.2l chicken stock

150g dried fine egg noodles, broken up

400g cooked chicken

a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put the garlic, onions, celery, courgette, carrots and chicken stock in a pan and bring to the boil over a high heat.

2. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, adding the noodles for the final 2-3 minutes of cooking time.

3. Stir in the chicken and the parsley, season well and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is piping hot throughout.

Enjoy x

Moroccan Roasted Veg with Tahini Dressing

From the moment I got up this morning, I knew that I would be spending the day in the kitchen.  I cooked three lovely dishes, none of them sweet.  Two we had for our lunch and the last one for Dinner.  

And so to the first recipe.  Moroccan roasted veg with tahini dressing.  I served it on a bed of couscous with a yogurt and mint dip and some pitta.  This went down a treat with the older of my children and my daughter (who eats anything).  The dip complimented the meal perfectly, although I found I had to add more than the required 4 tbsp Greek yogurt to get the right consistency.  I probably added about 8 tbsps.

The recipe itself can be found (if you have it) in the June Issue of Good Food Magazine, on page 28.

MOROCCAN ROASTED VEG WITH TAHINI DRESSING

Ingredients

2 courgettes, cut into chunks

3 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into chunks

8 spring onions, cut into 2cm lengths

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp harissa

2 tbsp tahini

juice 1 lemon

4 tbsp Greek yogurt (I used around 8 tbsp)

small bunch mint, roughly chopped

couscous and pitta bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.  Spread the vegetables out on a baking tray.  Drizzle over the oil and harissa, season and toss well.  Roast for 30 minutes or until cooked and beginning to caramelise.

2. Mix together the tahini, lemon juice, yogurt and 1-2 tbsp water to make a dressing.  Stir in half the mint.

3. Sprinkle the veg with the remaining mint and serve with the dressing, couscous and warm pitta bread.

Sticky Chicken With Mango Salsa

What a funny old day it has been today.  The weather couldn't make it's mind up whether it wanted to be hot or cold, wet or dry!  Dinner tonight was a combination of hot and cold.  A little bit of a picky meal (i.e. help yourself).  

Sticky Chicken With Mango Salsa  

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, skinned

2 limes, juice from both, zest from 1

1 or 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tsps olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

For the salsa

1 small red onion, peeled and diced

1 mango, stoned, peeled and diced

8 cherry tomatoes

Method

1. Cut the chicken into thin strips.  Mix the juice from 1 lime with the crushed garlic in a shallow dish.  Coat the chicken strips and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.  Remove the chicken from the marinade.  Put in the pan and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes on each side.  Remove from heat.

3. Mix the honey, ketchup, soy sauce and mustard in a bowl.  Brush over the chicken in the pan on both sides.  Return pan to a low heat and cook for 3 minutes on either side.

4.  Make the salsa by mixing the onion, zest and juice from the remaining lime, diced mango and chopped tomatoes in a bowl.  Serve the chicken with a large spoonful of salsa.

I served the Sticky Chicken with some baby new potatoes, dressed in a "classic" potato salad dressing, made from 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard, a glug of white wine vinegar and some chopped spring onions, as well as a basic salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and spring onions.

Enjoy x

Recipe Courtesy of Best Food Fast! Issue 1 Tasty Chicken Page 39

The Wonderful World Of Food

I can't believe how much time has flown by since I did my last blog post.  It certainly has run away with me.  I've done a fair few recipes and even tried a brand new food.  This was Halloumi.  I didn't dislike it but i wasn't overly impressed by it either.  It was very nice in the meal I made but not something I would go out of my way to eat again and I probably wouldn't order it in a restaurant either.  You definitely need flavours to go with it as it's a very tasteless "cheese".

Halloumi Aubergine Burgers with Harissa Relish

This recipe can be found on page 34 of the June Issue of Good Food Magazine.  A tasty alternative to normal burgers.  I found the taste to be one of a sweet and sour nature, each ingredient complimenting the other and nothing over powering.

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, very finely sliced

1/2 aubergine, cut into 8 round slices

250g block halloumi, cut into 8 slices

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 roasted red pepper from a jar, chopped

2 tsp harissa

4 ciabatta rolls, halved and lightly toasted

4 tbsp houmous

1.  Add 1 tbsp of the oil to a pan and tip in the onions.  Cook over a high heat for a few minutes, then turn down the heat and cook until soft and golden - about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat another tbsp of oil and fry the aubergine for a few minutes on each side until tender.  Set aside.  In the remaining oil, fry the halloumi until golden.

3. Tip the brown sugar, pepper and harissa into the onions.  Cook for 1 minute until the sugar has melted.  While the relish is cooking, spread the rolls with houmous, laying halloumi and aubergine slices on top.  Spoon the sticky, spicy relish over and serve.

Saint Helenian Fish In Savoury Batter

A superb dish if you are looking for something light, but also filling.  The batter makes the fish taste that much better and another speedy dish to make if you are a little light on time.  This recipe can be found in Take A Breaks My Favourite Recipes Magazine, Issue 7 and was submitted by Donna Chambers of Lymington, Hants.  I served this dish with a nice basic salad and some home made Irish Soda Bread.

113g plain flour

1 egg

142ml milk

1 onion, finely chopped

handful of chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 chilli, chopped (optional)

a little drop of yellow food colouring

fish of your choice, de-boned & sliced (I used haddock)

vegetable oil, for frying

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. To make the batter, sift the flour and seasoning into a bowl.  Make a hollow in the centre, add the egg and beat with a wooden spoon.  Gradually mix in the milk, beating steadily until the batter is smooth and free from lumps.

2. Add the onion, parsley, mixed herbs, chilli (if using) and food colouring to the batter and give it a good stir.

3. Dip the fish slices into the batter and fry in hot oil, turning once, until golden brown.

Coffee & Walnut Cake

Now I don't actually like coffee in any way, shape or form, but seeing as this was the next recipe to make in my Baked & Delicious Magazine, my OCD wouldn't let me skip past it.  The husband was happy though as he loves his coffee.  So this recipe can be found in Issue 5 of Baked & Delicious, Page 10.

175g (6oz) unsalted butter at room temperature

175g (6oz) caster sugar

3 eggs

175g (6oz) self-raising flour

5tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2tbsp hot water

75g (3oz) walnuts, chopped

4 tbsp apricot conserve or jam

For The Butter cream

125g (4oz) unsalted butter at room temperature

250g (9oz) icing sugar, sieved

2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water

Decoration

Walnut halves, coffee beans or chocolate coated coffee beans

Equipment

2 x 18cm (7") sandwich pans, buttered and dusted with flour (optional if using silicone)

Method

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.  Butter and flour the sandwich pans (essential if not using silicone bake ware).  Use an electric whisk to beat the soft butter and the caster sugar to the consistency of whipped cream.

Step 2 - In a jug, lightly beat the eggs together and then whisk them into the creamed mixture a little at a time.  If the mixture threatens to curdle, add a little flour from the measured quantity.

Step 3 - Use a large metal spoon to fold in the flour, the hot coffee and finally the walnuts.  Divide the mixture between the sandwich pans and smooth the tops.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until springy to the touch.  Run a knife round the edges and turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Step 4 - To make the filling, beat the butter until creamy and gradually whisk in the sifted icing sugar.  Add the coffee and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Spread one sponge with apricot conserve or jam, then cover the jam with half the buttercream and the second sponge.  Top with the remaining coffee butter cream and decorate with walnut halves and coffee beans.

Midweek Mediterranean Pasta

And so, to tonight's dinner.  Another recipe from Take A Break's My Favourite Recipes Magazine, Issue 7.  Very easy to make and a simple way to get veggies into your kids.  The recipe states that it serves 4 but it more than served my family of 7, with leftovers!  The recipe was submitted by Amy Harding of Tipton, West Midlands.  Now I wasn't 100% sure how to further cook the pasta meal after step 1 :/ so once I had cooked the pastas, I put them into a big flameproof casserole dish and added the other ingredients.  I did find that it was a little dry even with the tin of chopped tomatoes so I also added a mugful of boiling water, covered and then simmered it all for about 20 minutes, until the peppers and onions had softened.

1/2 x 250g pack unsmoked streaky bacon (I used normal bacon as not a huge fan of streaky)

250g pack tri-colour fusilli pasta

250g pack tagliatelle pasta

190g jar red pesto

1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped

1 orange pepper, deseeded and chopped

1 large onion, diced

3 chicken breast fillets, cooked

227g can chopped tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

50g Parmesan, grated

Garlic bread, to serve

1. Grill the bacon.  Cook the pastas in salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes or according to the pan instructions, then drain well.

2. Add the jar of pesto, the peppers and the onion to the drained pasta.  Once grilled, set the bacon aside on kitchen paper to cool.

3. Chop the cooked chicken and bacon pieces and add them to the pasta, along with the tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning and half of the Parmesan.  Cook until piping hot, serve with garlic bread and scatter the rest of the cheese on top.

Enjoy and let me know with a comment if you try any of the meals.

Fran x

Onion, Mushroom & Goats Cheese Pizza

We had somewhat of a rather light dinner tonight, seeing as Gloucestershire is still basking in this glori1 sly sunny weather. The recipe tonight was an onion, mushroom and goats cheese pizza taken from the Best Food Fast! Books, Book 25, Easy Italian, Page 38.  I knew from the offing that the Harley and Mackenzie wouldn't give it a try, so I just cooked them an ordinary cheese pizza.  The pizza was easy to prepare, using a pre-bought pizza base rather than making one and, only takes 10-12 minutes to cook so perfect if you need a lunch or dinner in a rush.  I suppose if you have the time and the ingredients, you could make your own pizza base.  I used a Tesco's own base which did the job great.

Ingredients

1 Thin And Crispy Pizza Base

2-3 Tablespoons Onion Relish

2 Tomatoes, Thinly Sliced

50g (2oz) Baby Mushrooms, Wiped And Sliced

125g (4oz) Goats Cheese, Broken Into Chunks

1 Tablespoon Pesto Sauce

Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Wild Rocket, To Serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.  Put the pizza base onto a baking sheet.  Spread with the onion relish.  Scatter the tomatoes and mushrooms on top.  Add the goats cheese and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.

2. Quickly dot the pesto sauce over the top of the pizza.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with a handful of rocket on top.

DISHED UP WITH A BASIC SALAD & SOME GARLIC BREAD

A little tip for you, spread the onion relish in a thin layer as the flavour is quite strong, but it cuts through the rich goats cheese beautifully.

The pizza is supposed to serve two but I definitely could not manage half a pizza.  It has 406 calories and 16 grams of fat per serving.

Enjoy

Fran x

Chicken Lasagne

Normal duties have been resumed in the Willetts household.  I am back to making my home cooking and loving every minute of it.

Tonight's meal was the Chicken Lasagne from the July Issue of Slimming World Magazine, Page 71.  I served this up with a big old jacket potato and a basic salad.  This went down a treat.  Although quite a lengthy process to prepare, it's definitely worth the wait.  I suppose you could even prepare it beforehand and then put it in the oven for the last 30 minutes cooking time.  Although not a traditional white sauce topping, it more than held it's own, the yogurt giving it a slightly tangy taste which matched the cheddar and cottage cheeses perfectly.  Packed full of vegetables this definitely makes a hearty meal for the whole family. I cooked it in a 27cm square roasting dish, and I was able to cut it into 9 generous portions, perfect if you have a large family like me, even though the recipe states that it serves 4.

Right lets get to it.

CHICKEN LASAGNE

Ready In About 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

Fry Light (I just used Olive Oil)

8 Baby Leeks, Thinly Sliced

3 Garlic Cloves, Finely Chopped

2 Celery Sticks, Finely Chopped

4 tbsp Tomato Puree

2 x 400g Cans Chopped Tomatoes

1 Chicken Stock Cube, Crumbled

200g Baby Carrots, Trimmed And Halved

100g Baby Spinach Leaves, Roughly Chopped

1 tsp Dried oregano

1 tsp Dried Thyme

1/4 tsp Dried Red Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Artificial Sweetener (I omitted this from mine, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference)

A Small Handful Of Fresh Basil, Roughly Chopped

Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper

500g Skinless Chicken

10 Dried Lasagne Sheets

200g Fat-Free Natural Cottage Cheese

400g Total 0% Fat Greek Yogurt

2 Medium Eggs, Beaten

120g Cheddar Cheese, Grated

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/Fan 170C/Gas 5.  Place a large pan sprayed with Fry Light (Olive Oil) over a medium heat.  Add the sliced leeks, garlic and celery and fry for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato puree, tomatoes, stock cube, carrots, spinach, dried oregano and thyme, chilli flakes, sweetener (omitted) and basil, and simmer for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from the heat, season, then stir in the leftover chicken.

SIMMERING

AFTER SIMMERING, WITH CHICKEN ADDED

3. Transfer half the chicken mixture to a large, ovenproof baking dish and top with half the lasagne sheets.  Repeat with the remaining mixture and lasagne sheets.

4. Whisk together the cottage cheese, yogurt and eggs, then season well.  Spoon the mixture over the top of the lasagne, then scatter over the Cheddar cheese.  Add a twist of black pepper and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and piping hot throughout. 

PRE-COOKING

AFTER COOKING

DISHED UP

With regard to this recipe, you were supposed to use 500g of leftover chicken from a whole chicken that you had cooked.  As I hadn't cooked a chicken, I just used two 250g packets of Tesco's own chicken breast and this did the job perfectly.

Enjoy

Fran x

Food Festival

WOW WOW WOW WOW What an amazing weekend I have had.  Something happened to me today that I shall remember for the rest of my life! I got to kiss Gino D'Acampo on the lips whilst eating spaghetti Lady & The Tramp style : ) : ) : )  He also signed my copy of his latest book and posed for a photo with me.

Yesterday I visited the Gloucester Quays Food Festival.  I got to see two marvelous cooking demonstrations, firstly by Rob Rees (The Cotswold Chef), and the other by Phil Vickery (the rugby player and Masterchef Winner 2011, not to be confused with Phil Vickery married to Ferne Britton).  I took my daughter along too and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.  She loved the cooking demonstrations and was quiet throughout, which is no mean feat for a 23 month old.  Herbs and spices were passed around for us to smell and she loved every second of it, even when she held a squid skeleton which looked rather like a hard see through feather.  Phil Vickery made a dish which he cooked whilst he was on Masterchef, a Lamb dish with coucous, which smelt divine.  He was more than happy to pose for a photo with me also.  One thing that did sadden me about yesterday, whilst waiting for the Phil Vickery show to start, a woman who was sat behind me, pulled my daughters pushchair out further into the aisle and towards her, in order to block a woman in a wheelchair sitting in front of her and obstructing her view.  

Wandering around the various stalls was wonderful.  The sights and smells were amazing.  My daughter and I tried some Churros, which are sort of like doughnuts but long like worms instead of round.  I also learnt that Churros were originally thought up by Mexican Sheep Farmers who could only carry so much on there treks and were named after the sheep they looked after Churras.

Well today, where do I start.  We (me, my mum & sister) were first in line for the Gino show which started at 10.30am.  We arrived at 9.00 lol.  There was a little bit of grumbling from us as there were a few people going round to a VIP entrance and we thought we would have to sit 3-4 rows back but no, when they let us in, we were able to grab a seat right at the very front.  Gino ran about 10 minutes late but I shall forgive him. The compere came on and got the crowd worked up and then the god that is Gino D'Acampo walked out.

He was wonderful, he interacted with the audience brilliantly.  He made it clear at the start that if we were there to see a serious cookery show then we were in the wrong place.  Let me tell you how the kiss came about ***blush***

Gino asked the audience "How do you know when pasta is cooked?".  My mum said fling it at a wall lol, Gino didn't hear so I repeated fling it at a wall and if it sticks its done.  He said no and told me to come up to him.  He pulled a piece of spaghetti from the pot where it had been cooking and held it up.  I thought that he was just going to feed it to me.  When he put the end in my mouth and I started to eat, he put the other end in his mouth and started to eat too, our lips meeting in the middle.  Well all I can say is my heart went into overdrive and my whole body began to shake (and I don't think it was from fear).  He asked me what I thought and all I could muster whilst looking into his beautiful eyes was a very timid "it's lovely".  He then asked what I thought about the pasta lol, once again a very timid "that was nice too".  That has made my entire life.

One audience member asked what his favourite recipe was in his new book, he told her to buy a copy lol.  I had a copy in my bag and held it up for him to see, he asked me to stand at the front and model his new book which I got to do also.  He is such an amazing man and just like he appears on the tv and the accent, oh it's to die for.

We all had a thoroughly good day made even better for me by my kiss :D

Signing off for now

Fran x

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my (not so little) first born.  He is 14 today.  I made my first "proper"birthday cake today which has gone down a treat.  It was a chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream filling and then coated in chocolate buttercream, white chocolate buttons and white chocolate buttons with hundreds and thousands on the top.  The only thing missing were the candles.  I had to hunt around and, the only one I could find, was a number 5 candle from my son Harley's birthday cake in March.  John didn't seem to mind at all : )

Things are finally looking up.  Spoke to Tax Credits today and I am finally getting all my back dated money tomorrow and then regular payments resume on Monday.  It's going to be so good being able to get back into the kitchen.  We were literally down to our last bag of sausages today for dinner.  Goodness knows what we would have done if we had to have waited until Monday.

I'm off to the Gloucester Quays Food Festival tomorrow.  All day I get to sit and watch chefs prepare meals etc, Phil Vickery being one of them.  I'm also going to see my absolute favourite chef Gino D'Acampo on Saturday.  I'm going to take along his latest book and hopefully get him to sign it for me.  Maybe even get a cheeky picture with him if I can get close enough!

Well signing off for now as have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow : )

Fran x

Tiredness!

It really can't be healthy to feel this tired all the time.  I mean, come midday, I can barely function, I feel so tired.  If I have a nap it only makes it 10 x worse!  Although not formally diagnosed by a Doctor as suffering from Insomnia, I'm sure I have it.  I can't just go to sleep and stay asleep.  I wake up at least 4-5 times a night, I toss and turn all night and I can never get comfortable.  My husband moans at me because I have to go to sleep with the TV on.  It's just background noise for me to fall asleep to, because if I don't have anything and the room is silent, I can't fall asleep due to the damn ringing in my ears.  Not so much ringing more of a constant low pitched buzz, it drives me insane!  I know if I go to a Doctor they will blame everything on my weight.  Yes I know I'm overweight and I've gone to the ends of the earth to try and shift it but it just doesn't come off!  Maybe if I had the money to have my own personal trainer every day and a chef to cook me all my meals that might make a difference!

My "not smoking" lasted all of one day : (.  I know I can do it, before the kittens died last month I hadn't smoked for well over 100 days and I felt so much better for it.

Does anyone know if your taste buds change as you get older? The reason why I ask is, on an average day I will drink anything up to 10 cups of tea a day.  For the past week though, all cups of tea have been tasting like wet cardboard, vile.  I've had to start drinking hot chocolate as I don't drink coffee but I miss my cups of tea : (

It's my eldest son's birthday tomorrow.  John Samuel.  He will be 14 year old.  I can't believe how fast the time has flown by.  When did I become old enough to have a 14 year old child?  As I posted before he wants a morph suit, but because of our lack of funds at the moment, I've had to explain to him that although he might not get it on his birthday he will definitely get it by next week.  I feel awful making him wait, but there isn't anything else that I can do.  I'm sure he will have a lovely day all the same.  I'm going to attempt to make him a birthday cake, and put to use some of the Cake Decorating Magazines I have been collecting.

Harley finishes school tomorrow.  He's very excited about moving up into Year 1, but doesn't seem to comprehend the fact that he has to have 6 weeks off school first.

Signing off for now.

Fran x

I was very rudely awakened this morning to my eldest two kids having a massive fight right outside my bedroom door.  It would have been over a lot sooner had Kieran just been quiet and carried on getting ready for school, but oh no, he has to have the last word.  This then results in his brother being tipped over the edge and him lashing out.  I really can't deal with such things so early in the morning, and to say I was relieved that Kieran eventually left the house for school is an understatement.

I've been repeating a kind of mantra to myself all day, "I will not smoke a cigarette," and so far it has worked.  I haven't had one all day.  Saying that though, it doesn't mean I don't want one.  I have once again made the decision to stop smoking.  The only reason I started again was because of the death of two much loved kittens, but that was a month ago now and I need to do this again.  For the past week or so I've had a horrible niggley pain in my left arm, right in the middle of my bicep.  It doesn't last very long only a couple of seconds or so but it's on and off all day.  Then today I started getting pains in my left boob again which literally made me stop whatever I was doing and clutch my chest.

These incidents, coupled with the anxiety that I suffer from are no good for my state of mind.  I can't help but think that I'm on the way out and I can somehow stop this if I stop smoking, so here I am again.

My mum thinks I might be going through early menopause.  I will definitely have to make myself an appointment with the doctors as I really cannot take much more of the hot flushes I've been getting everyday.  I hope it isn't though as I'm still only 32!

I'm going to dare to believe that my money situation will be sorted by Monday and I'm going to create my meal plan for next week.  I really am looking forward to being able to do a big shop and buy lots of lovely fresh veg.  I'm really looking forward to getting back into the kitchen as well.  Somehow cooking pizza, chips and beans doesn't compare to cooking a nice joint of roast beef with all the trimmings!

Rain Rain Go Away!!!

In the small break in rain that we have had in sunny Gloucester, Harley gets home from school and begs to be let out in the back garden.  I relent only for Harley to say 5 minutes later, "I want to come in and watch Spongebob".  Cue me telling him he has to stay outside! Does that make me mean?

So G4S have messed up BIG time.  They don't have enough security staff to cover the O******s.  I write it like this because they have gone crazy and you are not allowed to mention the word in full due to copyright infringement, but we all know what it stands for right? Anyway they have now drafted in the Armed Forces to help with security.  Are they being paid contractors wages for their help? No! They are being paid their normal Armed Force wages.  Acceptable? I don't think so but apparently this is in their remit and they knew what they were in for when they signed up! Has anyone else got an opinion on this? I'd love to hear from you whether good or bad.

The Tax Credits office have well and truly screwed me over for yet another week.  3 weeks without money now.  I rang them today and was told that all my details were on the system, the chap I was speaking on the phone to said he had just that second sent it for processing and, if I telephoned them at the end of the week, they will "probably" be able to tell me then how much I am entitled to and when I "might" expect my first payment.  I honestly didn't realise you could feed 5 children on thin air!

I asked my son John today if he would be interested in going to a Home Educators Sports Day next week.  I teach him at home as he didn't get along with senior school.  His response "um I don't like going outside".  That's an understatement if ever there was one.  I actually cannot remember the last time he left this house to go and see some friends.  I despair of him sometimes.  He's 14 on Thursday and really wish he would go out more.  It's just not healthy for him to spend all the time he does in front of the computer.  It drives me insane!

ANTS

I seem to have acquired a massive ants nest in my garden, the picture doesn't really do it justice on how big it actually is, I also have a few smaller ones as well.  I'm wondering does anyone have a tried and tested method of getting rid of these ants nests and them staying away?  I've used hot water and powders but they just seem to move elsewhere or rebuild their nests.  I can't even let the little ones on the grass at the moment for fear that they'll stand on one and then get covered in ants.  So if anyone can help me I'd be glad to hear from you.

Signing off for now.

Fran x

Bliss

A whole half a day without the kiddie winks.  Can it get any better than this? Why yes it can.  I'm at my mums today so I don't even have to cook dinner, and having my favourite roast, Lamb!  I am so hungry, I'm really looking forward to it.  Hopefully, come tomorrow, I shall be able to start cooking again.  It's been a nightmare week last week, lack of funds meant no home cooked meals and having to live off freezer food.  All this because I've renewed my Tax Credits claim.  This has meant that for the past 3 weeks I haven't had any money, but with a bit of luck, tomorrow I should have my regular money plus whatever is owed backdated.  I can't wait to get in the kitchen again and start cooking "proper" food!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh Facebook isn't working at the moment.  What the hell am I going to do? My life has come to a complete and utter standstill.  Oh well I suppose I'll just have to drink this big glass of rose wine and lemonade I have ; ) Panic over it's working again lol.

Well I had every intention of showing you the delightful dinner that I had had cooked for me by my mum, but by the time I had started tucking into it and realised that I wanted to take a photo, it was already half demolished lol.  Whoops!

Signing off for now, and hopefully things will be back to normal cooking wise next week : )

Fran x

Another Weekend

Well another Saturday is here and all too quickly it will be over and done with once again.  Can I do anything with the kids though? The answer to that is a big fat NO!!! The forecast doesn't look good, rain, rain and more rain, but hey what do you expect this is the great British summer after all.  Kieran is entertaining his younger brothers, Harley and Mackenzie by teaching them how to play dungeons and dragons.  Savannah is "helping" her dad to do the washing, and me, well i'm having a bit of time off today.  Didn't sleep much last night.  I don't know what was wrong I just kept tossing and turning.  It doesn't help that even though it is pouring with rain 95% of the time, it is as muggy as hell!

Another child of "Hollywood" has been found dead : ( Sylvester Stallone's son Sage was found unresponsive in his apartment and later pronounced dead.  Sylvester is said to be grief-stricken which any father would be.  The rumours have already started flying around that he died from an overdose.  If he did die from an overdose I don't think it's for the media to announce so soon.  Why can't they just let the family grieve first.  This must only be adding to the heartache that they must be feeling right now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18840326

Some good news.  The little girl I reported about who had fallen from height at Chessington World of Adventures, is now out of her medically induced coma and talking.  She has even been reported as saying "Can I go back to Chessington, I promise I'll be more careful?"  Bless her.  Although she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her, it's all looking good.  Her left side of her body has been affected by the fall and she can't currently walk, but her parents are holding a fundraising event to help pay for her future rehabilitation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18723840

Well it looks like I shall be having another trip to the vets.  My kitten Prince Orion (yes a great name I know, we couldn't decide between Prince or Orion so we had both), has now got a runny eye.  I'm hoping that it's just a bought of conjunctivitis and will easily be treated with drops.  Which reminds me I really must set up his insurance!

It seems I spoke too soon, signing the praises of Kieran, because now he has turned into an absolute nightmare.  If I hear the words "my life is so boring" and "it's so unfair" anymore I think I might actually sew his mouth shut!  Oh how to have the money to be able to ship him off somewhere, where he could spend a week living with people less fortunate than himself and then having him say that his life wasn't fair.  It's all very frustrating!

What a stroke of luck some people have.  The kind of luck where you think "why can't that happen to me?"  A pensioner went into his local charity shop and bought a brown bag for £20.  He has now discovered that the bag could be worth up to £350,000!!!! It's one of only about 10 bags made by designer Philip Treacy.  He has has two private collectors offer him £250,000 and £350,000 respectively for the bag!

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/charity-shop-sells-designer-bag-worth-hundreds-of-thousands-for-%C2%A320.html?fb_action_ids=10151251303140898%2C4152858827098%2C3859161071985%2C10151022788414089%2C10151106539187754&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_ref=type%3Aread%2Cuser%3A00sUfiCzz0Bhm00vnEqHKZVvR8s%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3Ap_2A9T1tyeES614EnvGE6wQTvhM%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3ARM-hjwfmF1G7sArSw5YVppagQDQ%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3AstyJ9pOBUGHywawvni2UQQplezY%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3A7sD6Fn6OlrrGLwFTfiItB2RW_ZA&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151251303140898%22%3A10150905204165728%2C%224152858827098%22%3A10151021099189374%2C%223859161071985%22%3A10150937749793775%2C%2210151022788414089%22%3A10150964804158005%2C%2210151106539187754%22%3A10150943020603583%7D&code=AQBJaUhrW7lXlIti22cVlmi0lbhrT53DgLlSwt9iga77mWbVVxIZZare_732brRTILT2gxmOkTDXIntuyiWeOoqX00fvXzZAPxBn0yO_hJrX5qjVggGXO4tg0myjacDSWagelE_fW5y5a1MNEJguVi_g4ufxTTl6HJX7mVNb-bdBPoENVSlz-_hyrE32M7XU6iQ#_=_

Signing off for now.

Fran x